My LA

Word Count: 578
Kelsie McCue
Film Production
Poetic License
Personal Narrative
March 4, 2009
Kelsie McCue, 18
On the Subway
Just a couple months ago I took the subway for the first time. I have been driving ever since I could remember if it wasn’t a car traveling through my neighborhood, it was a boat, and if it wasn’t a boat it was dirt bikes in the dessert. I just love driving. It’s that experience you get when you turn on the car and you hear the engine roar. It’s the thrill of rolling down the window and having the wind blow through your hair as you take in the view. It’s the fact that you can turn up the music as loud as you want and no one can say anything about it. Most of my journeys usually begin in a car but this one takes place on the subway.
It was a bright and beautiful Saturday morning I hoped in the car, picked up my friend Mike and began to drive. We were going ice skating at the Persian Square in Downtown Los Angeles when he asked “why not take the subway and save gas?” I had never even thought of that before, so we looked up the directions and off to the subway station we went. We arrived and it defiantly wasn’t how I pictured it. Hobos laid around the entrance, women in mini skirts paraded around and everyone seemed in a rush. We went down the escalators bought our tickets and hoped on the next arriving train. When we got inside it smelt horrible like old hot dogs and farts, I couldn’t help but plug my nose for a second. Then we were off it started out slow when all of a sudden we shot like a rocket, Mike laughed as I jolted back in my seat. I looked around there was such a variety of people on the bus. I noticed that some people were sleeping, while others read their books in silence. Yet, we were there together, awaiting our destinations. I looked around again seeming to be the only one excited to be on the subway.
We arrived at our destination, Persian Square, we hoped off and up the stairs we went. I could still taste the scent of old hot dog on my tongue but I quickly pulled out a piece of winter fresh gum and chewed away. It was so bright outside that the sun glistened on the buildings making them sparkle. I’ve been to downtown L.A several times but this time seemed different almost like I was wrapped up in the culture. We passed by several jewelry stores, markets and even a McDonalds when we finally reached the ice skating rink. We waited in line to pay for our skates, and then hopped on the ice rink. I began to look around at all the buildings that towered above me thinking who might be in there doctors, lawyers, accountants? I wasn’t sure.
We finished ice skating, when a random man came up and asked for a hot dog. We replied that we didn’t have one and kept on walking back to the subway. I couldn’t believe how much fun we had, and all the different things I got to experience just by taking the subway. We walked down the stairs and back on to the hot dog smelling train where I couldn’t help but hold my nose one more time.